FOOTBALL: John Cooper prepared for SPC 3A title game

John Cooper quarterback Evan Minarovic (1) throws a pass during the third quarter of high school football game, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, in The Woodlands.

John Cooper quarterback Evan Minarovic (1) throws a pass during the third quarter of high school football game, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, in The Woodlands.

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer

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John Cooper quarterback Evan Minarovic (1) throws a pass during the third quarter of high school football game, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, in The Woodlands.

John Cooper quarterback Evan Minarovic (1) throws a pass during the third quarter of high school football game, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, in The Woodlands.

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer

FOOTBALL: John Cooper prepared for SPC 3A title game

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From the very beginning of the season, this has always been the goal for the John Cooper football team.

The Dragons’ voyage toward a championship will culminate on Saturday evening at Postell Stadium in Dallas as they take on Fort Worth Country Day for the Southwest Preparatory Conference 3A title.

After completing a perfect 9-0 regular season, the Dragons will face a familiar opponent. John Cooper has already defeated Country Day (6-4) once this season, earning a 57-42 victory at home back in September.

This time around, however, there will be a lot more on the line.

Head coach Brent Landrum was not available for comment and will not coach on Saturday while taking a leave of absence, but assistant coach and associate athletics director Scott Holland expressed confidence in the team to cap what has been a historic season on a high note and bring some hardware back to The Woodlands.

“It’s been such a great ride since we started this program,” Holland said. “We’ve had some milestone moments — first game, first win, first win as a varsity team, first SPC win. … This is just the final step in the process for those seniors who have been here for a long time. To make Cooper football have a statement like that with an undefeated regular season and a chance to play for a championship, it’s energized the school as a whole.”

The Dragons posted one of their most statistically impressive performances of the season in the first game against Country Day, collecting 651 yards of total offense. Senior quarterback Evan Minarovic, a three-year starter for the program, led the way that night, throwing for 497 yards and accounting for eight total touchdowns.

John Cooper surrendered a couple of big plays against the Falcons in the first half as the teams entered the locker rooms with the score tied at 21. The Dragons played much better on the defensive side of the ball over the final two quarters, however, and collected 36 unanswered points on their way to the decisive victory.

Country Day started the season with four straight losses, but the Falcons have reeled off six straight victories since. They are averaging more than 35 points during that stretch and have held three opponents to single digits.

“Their biggest threat is No. 12 (6-foot-2 receiver Drew Chilcoat), Holland said. “Their quarterback (Stephen Murrin) is pretty good — he’s got a good arm, pretty mobile. They try and find every way they can to get (Chilcoat) into the game and make him an impact player. We’ve made some tweaks on defense to try to shore up some of the things they do, couple of coverage adjustments and things like that we’ve been working on throughout the season. I think our defense has gotten better and better as the season has worn on.”

After finishing last season with a 4-5 overall record, the Dragons came back this year determined to accomplish something truly special. John Cooper has already won the same number of games as the previous three years combined, and now just four quarters of football stands between the team and the ultimate prize.

“Last year we had some unmet expectations due to a variety of different things,” Holland said. “So this group, especially this group of seniors, came in with the mindset that we’re going to do everything we can to play for and win a championship. Every team that we’ve played in 3A, at some point in time, they thumped us a couple of times. … Those kids kind of kept that in their minds, and they had the chance to be the better team this year, and they’ve shown it on the field.”